CHENNAI: Russia is not responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Syria, said Sergey L Kotov, Consul-General of Russian Federation in Chennai. He was speaking at a press conference at the Russian Consulate here on Friday, to clarify the Russian approach to the war-torn West Asian country.
Kotov said Russia’s stand was to support reconciliation and stability in the Middle East and the full elimination of terrorist threat. He said the messages being circulated about Russia using chemical weapons in the region was “contrary to common sense” as he claimed Russia had completed destruction of stock piles.
“The Russian Federation is taking active measures to promote political settlement of the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions,” he said. “With the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the Syrian Army continues its fight against Islamic State terrorists, who have consolidated their hold in the Eastern Ghouta region.”
The Consul-General lashed out at the media for promoting “politically biased” and “one-sided” articles that painted a poor picture of Russia among the general public. He said the media should not completely rely on Western media, but should speak to Syrian officials too for a balanced view.
“Falsified photo and video materials are being published in social networks and other media,” he said. “Based on this misinformation, distorted data and false allegations about the situation in Syria, a group of Muslim public organisations were protesting in the city on February 28 and March 2. Most of them were people who were not aware of the real situation in Syria and came with an open heart to stop the crisis in Syria, but were simply misinformed.”
Expressing his disdain on the protests that occurred outside the Consulate, Kotov said he hoped it was a stray incident.
“Russia is a time tested and reliable friend of India, but is it that Indians never trust Russians,” he asked. “We are very disappointed and hope that such instances will be just a one-off happening and Muslims of the friendly nation of India will understand Russia’s stance and will be able to assess its reasonable contribution to the peaceful settlement of Syrian conflict and the effort taken to counter international terrorism.”